News from Greater Minnesota

Mar 12, 2015

A young organizer at Clean Up the River Environment (CURE) has sent us this notice of a meeting with Minnesota Senate District 17 lawmakers in Willmar on Saturday, March 14:

Please join CURE and other conservationists for a District 17 Legislator Meeting with your elected officials, Senator Lyle Koenen, Representative Tim Miller and Representative Dave Baker. They have all confirmed with CURE that they will be able to join us and listen to our concerns about conservation during this meeting in Willmar.

Who: A face-to-face meeting with three of your elected officials, Senator Lyle Koenen, Representative Tim Miller and Representative Dave Baker.

What: A face-to-face meeting with three of your elected officials, Senator Lyle Koenen, Representative Tim Miller and Representative Dave Baker

Why: This meeting will provide you with an opportunity to meet face-to-face with your elected officials to express your concerns and support for issues relating to agriculture, the environment, renewable energy and everything conservation related.

We're hoping that you will be able to join us and will let other concerned citizens know about this opportunity for their voices to be heard.

Share widely with your networks in the region. If you plan on attending, please let me [Kristian Nyberg CURE Energy Program Coordinator] know by simply responding to this email, or by calling the CURE office at 1-877-269-2873.

CURE is a grassroots, rural-based environmental group which works on clean water, clean energy and healthy soil in the Upper Minnesota River Valley.

Photo: A town hall in West Central Minnesota earlier this year.

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The audio of the second half of Thursday's meeting of the Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee's hearing on HF1394 (Fabian), a bill to gut the power of Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Citizens' Board, hasn't been posted as we write this.

If you listen to those supporting the bill, the delay of a single large farm by the board has brought Minnesota's dairy industry to its knees, a Cowpocalypse Now.

Talk about downer cattle.

But the melodrama of their position becomes apparently the more one learns. Mohr reports:

When a large dairy farm sought to expand its operations in western Minnesota last year, the Pollution Control Agency’s Citizens’ Board voted against the recommendations of PCA staff and required an in-depth Environmental Impact Statement of the project before it could move forward.

For Kathy DeBuhr, a farmer who lives near Chokio and a mile from the proposed feedlot, that decision meant a reprieve from the truck traffic, dust and other negative environmental impacts she says she’s experienced from a similar operation 6 miles away. For others, however, the ruling demonstrates the uncommon power this nine-member board has to delay or derail projects on the verge of approval after months, sometimes years, of work.

The House Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee heard testimony Thursday on a bill that would strip away much of that power. . . .

However, Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Mpls) said he found that unease puzzling because “if there’s one thing that’s certain based on the record of the Citizens’ Board and the PCA, it’s that (businesses) are going to get their permit.”

Hornstein said he had counted two times in the past eight years when the board may have denied a permit.

“This is a solution in search of a problem,” he said. “We don’t have permits being denied on a regular basis. We don’t have environmental review being ordered on a regular basis. … I’m puzzled by the need for this.”

DeBuhr said the Citizens’ Board was the only place she felt as though her concerns were heard and represented.

“I urge you not to remove the power from the Citizens’ Board,” DeBuhr said. “They are looking out for me.”

Thom Petersen, Minnesota Farmers Union director of government relations, said his organization was opposed to the bill because much of the concern was due to only one situation.

From the way that the video (embedded at the bottom of the post) starts, one might think that Peder Larson, who Mohr reports was MPCA commissioner back in the 1990s (Linked In says 1996-1998, during the Carlson years) was representing the agency, just one might think that the Dayton Administration supports the bill when Chair McNamara reads an executive order calling for review of the Citizens Board from 2012.

While Fabian and McNamara don't share our scruples, we think its important that the public understand that a lobbyist for the state chamber of commerce and a guy who was commissioner 17 years ago don't speak for "we," regardless of how many times the boys shared the pronoun "we."

On Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m., the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee will hear HF1394, Roseau Republican Representative Dan Fabian's bill to alter the structure and duties of the Citizens Board of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

But the Offutts aren't the only ag interests who gave McNamara money last year--indeed, they're pikers compared to the Molitor Brother Farms family contributions.

According to a search of the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board's individual campaign contribution database for political contributions by the Molitors and Thorkelsons, family members gave $12,700 to three candidates: Representative McNamara (R-Hastings); Representative Garofalo (R-Farmington); and Ryan Rutzick, who was defeated by Minnetonka DFLer Jon Applebaum.

Brent Molitor and Rita Molitor made two contributions totaling $700 to Rutzick, while Brian Molitor, Charles Molitor, Heather Molitor, Patrice Molitor, Eric Thorkelson and Sara Thorkelson each gave McNamara and Garofalo $1000, for a total of $6000 each.

According to Ownership interests information online at the EWG Farm Subsidy database, the Thorkelsons and the Molitors (with the exception of Brent) were the owners of Molitor Brothers Farm in 2012. Brent Molitor is employed by the farm, according to information at the Minnesota campaign finance site.

. . . . the very idea of income tests and payment limits worries many full-time farmers in Minnesota. The state has harvested more than $9.5 billion from government farm programs over the past decade -- fifth most among all the states.

Among the concerned Minnesotans is Brian Molitor, who represents the fifth generation of a Cannon Falls family farm that now stretches over more than 10,000 acres of corn and soybeans in southeastern Minnesota.

Molitor Bros. Farm, which four families operate, was one of the state's top three recipients of government subsidies in 2005, the latest year for which data is available. It pulled in nearly $1.2 million. [ Editor's note: 2005 marked the high water year for the MBF and the subsidies they received shrank to $222,275 by 2012]

But Molitor, hoping that his children will become the farm's sixth generation, said that without the government money, his farm wouldn't be able to break even some years.

"If you look at the last few years, subsidies have been what's been able to keep people at zero and keep them from losing money," he said. . . .

And here we thought Governor Dayton was generous with commissioner raises.

Do large contributions from large farmers influence the way Chair McNamara votes in committee and on the floor?

As one might guess, Thursday's agenda isn't set simply by one very large family farm. Instead, we need to look at those who helped flip the House and give McNamara the chair of the Environment committee.

Agriculture and ag lobbyist contributions for the HRCC and its allies in the 2013-2014 cycle

While other parts of the country are limited by water shortage and the need to import feed, Minnesota has plentiful opportunities with respect to both of these essential elements of a successful livestock operation. Unfortunately, new investment in this industry has been placed at risk due to recent actions by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Citizens’ Board. Beyond the costs and delays of these projects, the recent Citizens’ Board action raises real questions about Minnesota’s willingness to accommodate growth and new investment in the animal agriculture sector. AgriGrowth will be asking the legislature to review the Board’s responsibilities and powers to ensure that Minnesota can become an inviting location for responsible growth and investment in Minnesota’s agricultural sector to provide new economic opportunities for farmers, rural communities, and our entire state.

So what sort of money did Big Ag put on the table to help flip control of the House? In this post, we won't be looking at contributions to individual campaigns, but rather contributions to the HRCC, the MN Job Coalition Legislative Fund and the MN Action Network IE Fund.

We found at least $295,000 in contributions over $10,000 given directly by Big Ag interests to these three committees. With smaller PAC contributions by commodity group and ag law/lobbying entities, the total easily approaches climbs over the $300,000 mark.

These contributions are by no means a complete picture of the political giving--merely that which we can dig out of state-level year-end campaign finance reports. Nor are we suggesting that the getting and spending only occurs on one side. The problem is one of transparency.

Two Davis family members gave a total of $75,000 to the HRCC, the committee's 2013 and 2014 year-end reports reveals. On December 31, 2013, Marty Davis, founder of Cambria, gave $25,000 to the HRCC; months later on October 9, 2014, he threw another $25,000 into the kitty. On September October 8, Mitch Davis of the Davis Family Dairies, contributed $25,000.

. . . contribution of at least $45,000 in cold hard campaign cash to the Minnesota state House Republican Campaign Committee (HRCC; year-end report here) by members of the Fehr family, owners of Riverview Dairy. (Some might add in an additional $2500 donated by Mitch Fehr, to make the total rise to $47,500).

Tom Rosen, of Rosen's Diversified and the American Food Group, the nation's 5th largest beef processing company. gave $25,000 in 2013 and $25,000 in 2014, for a total of $50,000 for the cycle. Rosen Diversified gave the Minnesota Action Network IE Fund $50,000 on September 5, 2014.

The Minnesota Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund also received $325,000 from the Republican State Leadership Committee. Although we can't determine if any of the Agribusiness contributions to the RSLC was earmarked for Minnesota, we can discern ag money in the pot.

Kraft Foods gave RSLC a total of $100,000; Kraft maintains a presence in Minnesota's dairy industry with cheese plants in New Ulm and Albany.

Goatroped by lobbyists and campaign contributors, lawmakers would take decision-making from agency staff guided by science and give it to themselves--and the special interests who have admittedly written some of the bills.

It should be enough to have the rest of us joining Rep. Persell's Bull Hockey Umpire Society.

The Minnesota Legislature is muscling in on the power of state agencies in a broad effort to assume more influence over everything from water quality to health and safety regulations. . . .

The bills could trigger a sharp response from both the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees much of Minnesota’s clean water efforts, and Gov. Mark Dayton

Dayton, who vetoed a bill that would have given the Legislature a bigger role in regulatory issues in 2012, said the new proposals would “interfere with the clearly established responsibilities of the executive branch.” . . .

Previous efforts have resulted in the threat of sanctions from the EPA. The state enforces the Clean Water Act and other federal environmental laws at the behest of the EPA. If it fails to do so, the EPA can intervene. The federal agency warned the state in 2011 that rewriting the state statute that protects wild rice without a scientific basis, or failing to adopt it in permits, would trigger a response.

“The state may not issue a permit over the EPA’s objection,” federal officials wrote in a 2011 letter to Iron Range legislators Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, and Rep. David Dill, DFL-Crane Lake. “The EPA has the authority to require the state to take corrective action,” the letter read. Both Bakk and Dill are part of the group supporting changes in the regulatory process. . . .

In his 2012 veto letter Dayton quoted his GOP predecessor, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who vetoed a similar reach into executive powers in 2003.

It would have shifted “authority for conducting rulemaking from the executive branch to the legislative branch,” Pawlenty wrote, adding, “Under current law, the Legislature has granted the Governor’s office final approval authority on all rulemakings. This is sound policy as it provides accountability in a way that does not paralyze either branch of government.”

It's the sort of post-moronic (and moneyed) politics Bluestem has come to expect from Speaker Daudt's majority, foreshadowed by the leader's removal of "Energy" from the Environmental and Natural Resources committee to team it up with "Jobs."

In Tuesday's floor session, Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources minority lead Rick Hansen ( DFL-South St. Paul) moved to have HF333 pulled from the House Ways and Means Committee and sent to the Environment Committee.

HF333, a bill that would require legislative approval of a state plan to comply with federal regulations regarding emissions from existing power plants, would be paid for by the state's environmental fund. Implementing the lanuage would be be part of work of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). The "federal regulations" about air emissions is part of the implementation of the federal Clean Air Act.

Hansen also noted that plans for regulating power plant emissions are part of addressing climate change, another concern tasked to the Environment Committee.

In short, this bill has everything to do with environmental policy and funding. Bill author, Becker Republican Jim Newberger, opposed Hansen's motion--prompting a remarkable line of questioning from Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley).

Newberger: . . .this is not a pollution control bill. Members please vote no on this motion.

Winkler: Representative Newberger, is air part of the environment?

Newberger: Thank you Representative Winkler. That's a complex question and one that you obviously know the answer to. Of course it is.

Winkler: Well, Representative Newberger, you said that the air is part of the environment and this is an air pollution bill, this is a bill about polluting the environment. I think that Representative McNamara's committee is based on some regulation or deregulation of pollution of the environment. I don't quite understand how anyone could stand up with a straight face, on the floor, and say that a bill that deals with air pollution, doesn't have to go to the Environment Committee since air is part of the environment.

And so members, I guess it kind of begs the question.

I understand that the coal industry favors the bill, and the coal industry doesn't think that burning coal has an effect on the environment, but I think most Minnesotans do, so the question recurs once again to the body: do you want to follow the demands of an industry who has money to be made by moving a bill away from the Environment Committee, or do you want to do what's right for the state and follow basic common sense about environmental impacts of burning coal?

And if you don't think that belongs in the Environment Committee, maybe I'd suggest you'd get rid of the Environment Committee . . .anyway.

Gary Gross, at Let Freedom Ring and True North (sponsored by the Taxpayers League) had been posting about this matter for at least 10 months, based on coverage in the Mesabi Daily Range and the St. Cloud Times.

Indeed, Gross' April 22, 2014 Letter: IRRRB amounts to bank for DFL in the St. Cloud Times reads like a synopsis for her framing narrative. It also makes one wonder--along with other coverage in the St. Cloud Times of the Eveleth call center opening, collapse and rebirth--how Jim Knoblach or any other Republican suddenly can carry on as if the call center's business was unknown in 2006 or 2014.

But heck, the Strib didn't even tell readers that Knoblach represents St. Cloud--homes base for Meyers-- only that he chairs a powerful committee.

State Rep. Bob Loonan paid a $10,000 fine and was suspended from teaching continuing-education classes related to the insurance industry for three months after he decided to forego a hearing on allegations leveled by the state Department of Commerce.

The commerce department alleged that Loonan provided false information to the department related to credit hours on applications for continuing education courses he taught and that he “allowed the promotion of the services or practices and used materials of a particular entity,” in violation of state statutes.

“I learned my lesson,” said Loonan. The law infractions, which occurred last year, were “my fault,” he said.

Loonan has an American Family Insurance agency at 1221 Fourth Ave. E. in Shakopee, and also operates Loonan and Loonans Consulting, a business in which he is a continuing-education coordinator and instructor.

Libby Caulum, acting communications director for the commerce department, said she could not disclose specific allegations as they relate to Loonan. But as an example, she said that an instructor must get approval from the state for a specific number of instruction hours for continuing-education credit for those attending the class. If, for example, the instructor was approved to teach for credit a four-hour class and actually only taught for two hours, it would be a violation, she said.

Loonan said in his case, he was teaching 21 students in Mankato in February during a winter storm. Most of the 21 students were from the Twin Cities, so Loonan said he rushed through the four-hour class material in about two and a half hours, which was a violation.

The second infraction involved the promotion of a company, which is forbidden. Loonan said vendors had supplied the students in one of his classes with a notebook and a pen at each desk in the room, which is a violation of state statutes. “If they were at the registration table outside the room, that would have been OK,” Loonan said.

Loonan had a right to a hearing on the matter and could appeal if he were ruled in violation of state statutes, but he accepted the penalties in December, a month prior to taking office as a legislator. By accepting the penalty, Loonan agreed to abide by the department’s decision but he doesn’t necessarily acknowledge any wrongdoing.

It's customary practice to acknowledge when news has been broken elsewhere, even if those stories are a bit cold. Bjorhus and her editors are getting repackaging old news as new.

We're growing disappointed with the paper. On Sunday, we looked at some major journalistic flaws in the usually excellent Tony Kennedy's story about a supposed "standoff" on feedlots that has led to calls to defang or disband the Citizens Board of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Two dairies, both of which had been permitted by the MPCA Citizens Board in 2009, but put on hold by Riverview Dairy (or by associates it was working with before purchasing the project and its permit), were described as new projects that had "ignited battles."

The post, which appears to be lifted from an email sent by Debbie Anderson, ACT! for America Minneapolis Chapter Coordinator, not only claims "Islamic ideology, Sunni and Shia, is antithetical to our way of life and is incompatible with our Declaration of Independence and Constitution in its very gene code," but also suggests that Somali-Minnesotans are likely to be sympathetic to terrorism:

So why does it matter that MN has an estimated 77,000 Sunni Muslims?

Even if MN had only 77,0000 Sunni Muslims and only half of them were sympathetic to Somalia’s terrorist group al-Shabaab that would be an army the size of ISIS.

That’s why it matters.

The post concludes with a list of "MN Resettlement Contractors" along with the groups' phone numbers.

The Central Minnesota Tea Party is made up of non-partisan independent thinkers working to restore our Republic. We are pro-family, pro-God, pro-American and pro-Constitution. One thing is certain. You won't see a Tea Party member desecrating the American flag or engaging in hooliganism.

Our core values are fiscal responsibility, limited federal government, personal responsibility, private property rights, free markets, and national sovereignty. We are opposed to the New World Order, social engineering in our schools, UN involvement in our government, and progressive, socialist, and entitlement legislation.

In the past, Republican elected leaders and candidates have been guests at the group's meetings. It's not the Republican Party of Minnesota's policy to promote Islamaphobia, and so we hope those Republicans stopping in to meetings in the future make it clear that the GOP doesn't support Anderson's ideas.

In St. Cloud, this isn't an abstract problem. A Muslim worship center has been vandalized several times in the near past.

Photo: Somali American women.

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Land Stewardship Project organizer Rebecca Terk White sent Bluestem the following notice of an event next Monday, March 16 in Lamberton, Minnesota, along a with that she and her husband, writer and photographer John G. White will be "bringing the "snirt show" aka The Art of Erosion" to the meeting.

The Whites live in rural Big Stone County where they keep chickens and the excellent blog, Listening Stones Farm.

The invitation:

Erratic and extreme weather plays havoc with farmers’ plans and bottom lines. That’s why farmers and others in the southwest Minnesota ag community are invited to hear about weather and climate trends and innovative agricultural practices to adapt to them at an event on Monday, March 16 at the U of M Southwest Research and Outreach Center in Lamberton.

The event, titled Farmers Lead the Way, will feature Extension Climatologist Mark Seeley overviewing changes he has seen in rainfall events, drought and heat waves in Southwest Minnesota over the past three decades, and Jerry Hatfield from the USDA National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, Iowa, who will kick-off discussions about innovative ag practices designed to adapt to the changing weather.

In this highly interactive convening, participants will have the chance to share innovations they have created or are contemplating, with an emphasis on adaptations at the home, farmstead and community levels. There is no charge for attending the convening, which includes lunch, but registration is limited to 100 people. Advanced registration is requested at z.umn.edu/adpt.

Seventeen Republican members of the Minnesota House introduced a bill on Monday that would block transgender-inclusive school policies. The bill is identical to one introduced in the Minnesota Senate.

The bill, like Senate File 1543, would repeal the Minnesota State High School League’s transgender-inclusive high school athletics policy. That policy provided guidance to member schools that transgender students should have the ability to participate in extracurricular activities based on their gender. The bill would also block the St. Paul Board of Education’s proposed gender inclusion policy which would make school facilities accessible to transgender students.

A second bill, House File 1547, was also introduced which is identical except leaves out language pertaining to the Minnesota State High School League’s transgender inclusive athletics policy.

The Minnesota Family Council, a group opposed to LGBT rights, praised the bill:

“We join Minnesota families around the state in saying a big ‘thank you’ to Representative Miller, Senator Brown, and their fellow leaders for hearing the concerns of families and working to protect the basic privacy and safety rights of all children. Children, and their parents, need to know that their safety and privacy rights will be protected, particularly when they are in intimate settings away from home,” John Helmberger, CEO for Minnesota Family Council said in a statement. “The Minnesota State High School League created an unworkable situation for schools and our female athletes when they passed their transgender policy. Now our Legislators are working to ensure that our female student athletes continue to have an opportunity to compete to win fairly and safely. This bill is simply common sense.”

Both the Senate and House bills were condemned by OutFront Minnesota, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy group.

“OutFront Minnesota strongly opposes this bill, as it would single out trans youth and permanently deny them the ability to take part in their school’s activities, and use the facilities,” Executive Director Monica Meyer said in a statement. “SF 1543 aims to require administrators to make decisions based on analysis of students’ anatomy and – believe it or not – their chromosomes! The bill’s sponsors speak of students’ privacy, while shamelessly eliminating it completely for transgender students.”

The aural pun between "doubt" and Speaker Daudt prompted us to ask a friend to adapt a "readymade" graphic for a Bluestem series based on our research into campaign contributions by North Dakota oil and gas industry interests in the 2014 state-level elections in Minnesota.

The company also gave $25,000 directly to the Minnesotan Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund PAC on August 15, 2014 (p. 6, year end report). That's at least $25,000 and perhaps as much $50,000 of good Bakken crude flowing into Minnesota politics for independent expenditures.

It's hard not to envision at least some of that oozing into the hands of the venders MJC chair (now House Majority executive director) Ben Golnik hired to craft $58,640 worth of attacks against DFL state representative Melissa Hortman in House District 36B (page 18, year end report).

After all, in the 2013-2014 session when the DFL held the majority in the Minnesota House, the Brooklyn Park Democrat chaired the Energy Policy Committee, helping to shepherd through clean energy policy.

Northern Oil and Gas Inc Chair and CEO Micheal Reger also gave big to the HRCC, the campaign committee for Minnesota House Republicans. Reger dropped $10,000 into the HRCC kitty on October 14, 2014, (p. 48 year end report) after giving the committee $25,000.00 on December 31, 2013 (p. 26 year-end report), or $35,000 for the cycle.

He was also generous in 2014 to individual Republican state representatives and challengers campaigns, as well as Republican Attorney General candidate Scott Newman (all information via the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board's searchable database):

That's $18,000 more total to Minnesota House Republican candidates. Add that to the $35,000 to the HRCC and the $25,000 to the MJC, Reger & Company gave $78,000 to help flip the chamber, and possibly $25,000 more via the RSLC.

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. is an independent energy company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas properties, primarily in the Bakken and Three Forks formations within the Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana. The Company's primary focus is oil exploration and production through non-operated working interests in wells drilled and completed in spacing units that include its acreage. The Company primarily engages in oil and natural gas exploration and production by participating on a proportionate basis alongside third-party interests in wells drilled and completed in spacing units that include its acreage.

The latest news releases from the company and other information about its well-being are found on the page.

Reger co-founded Wayzata-based Northern (AMEX: NOG) in 2006 and took over as CEO and chairman of the board in March 2007. He has bachelor's and MBA degrees from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

Northern is an oil and gas exploration company and is a big player in the booming North Dakota oil industry.

With that sort of career buzz, it's not just Bakken oil tanks that are exploding.

Images: Via the AP/Chicago Tribune, the plume of smoke from a burning oil train was seen above the skyline of Galena, IL last week (above); Our logo for this series on the role of North Dakota energy interest money in Minnesota elections and politics (below) Dan Feidt / feidtdesign.com; follow him on twitter @hongpong.

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Bluestem ordinarily admires the work of Tony Kennedy at the Star Tribune; none was in 2013 better on covering the disputes over frac sand mining in Minnesota, both on the ground in the Driftless region and at the state capitol.

First, there's a misleading timeline that implies the August MPCA CItizens Board's request for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prompted the Fehrs to "secure" two new sites.

Second, Kennedy reports that "the Fehr’s two new proposed dairies have ignited additional battles." In fact, there's never been a battle about the Meadow Star Dairy in Kandiyohi County, while the "battle" over Dollymount Dairy in Traverse is nothing new.

Neither of Riverview's other two dairies are new projects, having already secured permits from the MPCA years before the August 2014 Citizens Board meeting . Kennedy's article omits this key fact. He reports:

The jolt [of the August 2104 decision by the MPCA Citizens Board] didn’t stop the Fehrs, who quickly secured two other sites for major expansions.

The Proposer owns and operates eight other active dairy facilities permitted by the MPCA: Riverview Dairy, West River Dairy, District 45 Dairy, Moore Calves, Hawk Creek Calves, Dublin Dairy, East Dublin Dairy, and Chippewa Calves. Additionally, the Proposer owns and has permitted two other facilities that have yet to be constructed: Dollymount Dairy and Meadow Star Dairy. [p. 62, emphasis added]

Permitted by the MPCA in 2009, the Meadow Star Dairy in Kandiyohi County was acquired in 2012 by the Fehrs, along with its state and county permits. "Battles" with neighbors over environmental issues were not a contributing factor to the delay in starting the site.

Rather, this new dairy was put on hold because of a downturn in the dairy industry. As one of the Fehrs told a Willmar journalist, "It was 'about as bad as you can get.'"

Initiated by Hultgren Farms of rural Pennock, with support from Riverview, the developers had obtained a conditional use permit from Kandiyohi County in 2008 and a permit from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in 2009. But with a downturn in the dairy industry, the project was put on hold.

“The dairy industry went through a hard period during that time,” said Duane Hultgren, from Hultgren Farms.

It was “about as bad as you can get,” Fehr said.

The county permit was renewed in 2010, but developers failed to win approval of a request to change the county ordinance to allow high-density, on-site labor housing for ag businesses.

The project was again put on hold and the county permit expired.

There is no time limit on the MPCA permit, which is attached to the specific site. Then, around 2012, Hultgren Farms sold the land, with the MPCA permit still intact, to Riverview.

Also during that time, St. Johns Township took action to create its own zoning board.

The final piece came this year when the dairy industry took a sharp turn upward. The positive economy and Riverview’s over-abundance of dairy heifers made the timing right to build a new facility in Kandiyohi County, Fehr said.

“We have cows and we need a home for them,” Fehr said.

Following a public hearing on Nov. 7 in Pennock, the permit for Meadow Star Dairy was unanimously approved by the township.

Yep. Riverview Dairy LLC had secured that that site--and the county and MPCA permits to accompany it--by buying it in 2012, after helping the Hultgrens develop it in 2008.

In 2006, the MPCA prepared another EAW for a dairy project in Section 4 of Dollymount Township. An EAW was published and public comments were received on this project, which was also called Dolymount Dairy; however, the EAW w as withdrawn prior to the Board meeting, and no final decision was made on whether that project required an EIS or could be permitted as designed

But the history of the site and its environs goes back even farther to 2002. The 2009 Citizens Board findings of fact (page 15 of this document) notes in the Previous Environmental Review section:

3. No previous environmental review action has been undertaken for this Project. In 2002, a different group of project proposers applied for a permit to construct a dairy facility to be called Dollymount Dairy at a nearby site in Section 9 of Dollymount Township, and a draft EAW was prepared by the MPCA. However, that project was withdrawn before a final EAW was prepared, so no environmental review was completed.

4. In 2006, the MPCA prepared another EAW for a dairy project in Section 4 of Dollymount Township. An EAW was published and public comments were received on this project, which was also called Dolymount Dairy; however, the EAW was withdrawn prior to the Board meeting, and no final decision was made on whether that project required an EIS or could be permitted as designed.

5. The present Dollymount Dairy project differs significantly from the preceeding proposals insofar as it proposes to use a different barn design with different bedding material and a different manure storage area design, including an anaerobic digester to process the manure and collect the bio-gas for use in generating electricity, the use of manure solids separators, and covered manure storage basins.

If there's a delay in starting up a dairy on this location, the Ag Mafia can't lay that inaction solely at the feet of environmental and pro-family scale farming advocates.

To sum up, both "new" proposals have been permitted by the MPCA since 2009, and various "Dollymount Dairy" projects have been on the radar of the MPCA since 2002.

Additionally, because of the brightening prospects in the dairy industry in 2014, the Fehrs approached Traverse County government about permitting the Dollymount Dairy project before the MPCA Citizens Board asked for additional environmental review, county records reveal.

Sara Gronfeld/Soil and Water/Planning and Zoning - Gronfeld discussed the upcoming hearing for the Dollymount Dairy CUP which will be August 27, 2014 at 9:30 A. M. at the Wheaton Legion. She invited the Commissioners to attend and listen to any comments presented at the hearing. . . .

That's right. The site and state permit were for the Dollymount Dairy in Traverse County were secured by the Fehrs over five years before the MPCA denied the permit for the Baker Dairy in Stevens County. Traverse County had set a permit hearing that would coincidentally occur the day after the Citizens Board meeting.

In our next section, we'll look at why this project--in its various iterations--has prompted conflict in Traverse County.

That conflict can't be laid at the feet of the MPCA Citizens Board--and there's nothing in the Kandiyohi County project that can be described as an environmental "battle."

Imaginary armies clashing in Kandiyohi County

Readers might conclude from Kennedy's timeline--which omits any information about when the Fehrs secured those two other dairies--that the Dollymount and Meadow Star Dairies are open targets in this "new battle over feedlots:"

Across the state, the Fehr’s two new proposed dairies have ignited additional battles. One, near Willmar, will contain 9,500 animals. The other, called Dollymount, was recently re-approved for 7,500 cows and heifers near Lake Traverse.

“I will dread the day when I see the construction equipment come by,’’ said Marilyn Mathias, a Dollymount neighbor who organized unsuccessful opposition to the project.

We challenge the Star Tribune to demonstrate what battle occurred over the creation of Meadow Star Dairy in Kandiyohi County, because we're not seeing it in the Lange article and the MPCA documents for 2009 (three citizens wrote comment letters, a far cry from the pages and pages of letters in response to the Baker Dairy).

After reading the article, Bluestem reached out by phone to Land Stewardship Project organizer Paul Sobocinski to see if LSP had heard from local citizens about the Meadow Star Dairy project. According to Sobocinski, the group had not.

That's three strikes--and so Meadow Star Dairy is out as an example of a "standoff" and an "additional battle" over environmental review. But then, the Strib article doesn't tell readers the project has the state, county and township permits it needs. Details, details.

The Dollymount Dairy project, on the other hand, has a much longer and more checkered past that suggests that this "battle" wasn't ignited by the August 2014 decision by the Citizens Board. According to The Riverview Way, a 2010 article in Agweek, Traverse County hasn't been the most welcoming place for the dairy:

The same year [2005], Riverview tried in vain build a heifer feedlot in Redpath Township of Minnesota’s Traverse County, but were turned away because of local resident concerns about labor, odor, and traffic. . . .

Also in 2008, they were turned away a second time in Traverse County, this time in an effort to build a new dairy. . . .

We suspect that there's much more to the Traverse County story--and the 2009 board packet includes a list of 13 letters and staff responses to the letters, though not the letters themselves. We suspect they're still on file at the agency.

Before believing what he heard in the lobbies of the state capitol and office buildings, Kennedy ought to have checked the state and county records, and his editors ought to have insisted on mentioning such details in public records in the articles the Strib posts.

Picky, we know.

Sadly, this is only the most recent example of talking points trumping document searches by the Star Tribune. One can lead readers to believe that no Minnesota Republican knew about the business that Meyers Associates was in if one doesn't mention the 2006 IRRRB loan application included in the members' packet or the fact that Minnesota House Ways and Means Committee chair Jim Knoblach represents St. Cloud, home to major employer Meyers.

Photo: One of the Riverview Dairy LLC's barns.

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[Beth] Proctor, a Minnesota State University professor who in recent years has sought to strengthen regulations of a frac sand mining operation just noth of Mankato, asked about mining regulations. Bills under discussion at the Capitol would require legislative approval of water-protection standards. These standards have been controversial because they add to the cost of some Iron Range mining projects.

Considine sits on a mining and outdoor recreation committee and said the political reality there is that nine of its members are Republicans and four of its six Democrats are from the Iron Range.

"Quite frankly, there's a race to the microphone to tell mining companies how great they are when they're doing their pitches," he said. He acknowledged that Polymet, which is trying to build a large copper mine, is "trying to go in the right direction" regarding water quality.

But he was skeptical that a sulfide mining operation — where the ore is extracted from sulfide, which can create acid when exposed to air and water — can ever be environmentally safe.

That sort of statement might build resentment among his Range peers to the point that they might come down with chronic Range amnesia around the freshman DFLer. Let's hope they remember more than just their grudges.

Linehan reports:

Johnson said he opposes requiring legislative approval of water quality standards, which he called an attempt to "politicize water quality standards in the land of 10,000 lakes."

"Imagine the political pressures associated with (approving a water quality standard)," he said. "We’re in flush times now. It might be easier to do that now. We won’t always be in flush times."

Phosphorus is a pollutant that spurs algae growth and can turn sky-blue water into pea-soup green. Currently, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) takes the lead in determining water-quality standards and issuing permits for wastewater plants. . . .

The controversial bills, written by the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, would require legislative approval of water quality standards as well as an added layer of review.

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Kandiyohi County Commissioner Harlan Madsen, a farmer from rural Lake Lillian, drew a comparison between farming and funding for transportation.

Madsen said he could save money by skimping on fertilizer a couple years but the long-term results for his yield would be disastrous, and he said trying to make his milk cows more “efficient” by not feeding them is exactly what’s been happening to the state’s roads.

Madsen said the state’s transportation system is the “common bond” between unique communities that has a “profound effect on our prosperity.”

Madsen said a coordinated and collaborative investment in infrastructure is needed to end the state’s trip “on a road of potholes, dangerous curves and dead-ends” that has cost lives and lost economic opportunities.

We like that one.

Photo: Bovines coming home; or where the cow hockey hits the road.

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A letter from a powerful lobbying association demanding an apology was delivered to Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) after he asked pointed questions after it was revealed in committee on Thursday, February 26 that the group wrote wrote HF616.

Legislators, it seems, may not ask questions of lobbyists representing interests brought to the Minnesota legislature. But legislators (who are quite comfortable letting special interests write the bills) may grandstand about how scientists and civil servants are incapable of setting regulatory standards.

Who will those comfortable legislators turn to for advice, if not an agency's technical and scientific staff? Any guesses?

Regulatory capture is a theory associated with George Stigler, a Nobel laureate economist. It is the process by which regulatory agencies eventually come to be dominated by the very industries they were charged with regulating. Regulatory capture happens when a regulatory agency, formed to act in the public's interest, eventually acts in ways that benefit the industry it is supposed to be regulating, rather than the public.

Public interest agencies that come to be controlled by the industry they were charged with regulating are known as captured agencies. Regulatory capture is an example of gamekeeper turns poacher; in other words, the interests the agency set out to protect are ignored in favor of the regulated industry's interests.

Bluestem doesn't think that the MPCA is captured yet, but bills like HF 616, which a lobbyist for the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities admitted was written by the CGMC on behalf of those who face new standards for phosphorous in treated waste water, edges us closer to this normal and casual political corruption.

The EPA has asked states to develop a standard for cities and other "point" sources to meet--though as John Persell has pointed out on March 3, many cities in Minnesota were ahead of the curve. He cited the example of Bemidji, which had done the right thing for its area lakes, which feed into the Mississippi River; removing the nutrients from its water removed them for those downstream.

The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities demands an apology from a east metro lawmaker after he appeared critical of the group last week during a House committee hearing.

However, Democratic-Farmer-Labor Rep. Rick Hansen of South St. Paul said Wednesday that what the coalition considered harsh questioning was part of his ongoing attempt to change the Capitol culture of giving special interest groups power.

A coalition lobbyist was testifying about an environmental bill affecting cities when Hansen asked if the group wrote the bill. Lobbyist Elizabeth Wefel said the coalition did.

Then Hansen turned to about campaign contributions.

"Is the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities one of the largest contributors to campaigns in the state of Minnesota?" he asked.

Wefel responded that cities cannot donate to campaigns or have political action committees that give to campaigns. . . .

There's another question as well that Hansen didn't raise. How much did the cities that are members of the CGMC pay for lobbying activities? In this case, that would involve writing the bill.

Fortunately, we don't have guess about this stuff, at least not for years past, for the office of the State Auditor (a constitutional office not to be confused with the Office of the Legislative Auditor) is charged with reviewing how much cities spend on lobbying services.

In addition to the $3.9 million paid directly to staff and contract lobbyists, local governments paid dues of $10,967,446 in 2013 to local government associations that also represented their interests before legislative, administrative, or other governmental bodies. . . . These associations spent $4,213,414 on lobbyists and lobbying in 2013. This represents an increase of 8.6 percent over 2012. Of the $4.2 million spent on lobbyists and lobbying by these associations, $3,837,539 was funded exclusively through dues. This represents an increase of 9.4 percent over the $3,509,101 in association dues that were spent on lobbying activities in 2012 (pg. 5).

And the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities? On page 11, under the headline Associations With the Highest Expenditures on Lobbying Services, we learn that the Coalition was the biggest spender, clocking in at $835,674.

Under Compensation Paid to Firms or Staff for Lobbying Services on page 12, the state auditor's report states:

In 2013, Minnesota local governments or associations of local governments paid ten firms or employee lobbyists $100,000 or more to provide lobbying services. . . . The ten firms or employees receiving $100,000 or more in payments from lo cal governments or associations of local governments are listed below in Table 3.

Leading the pack is Flaherty & Hood, P.A. at $894,740; the next lobby shop, Messerli & Kramer, received less than half that at $442,187.

Essentially, the hired guns of the cities--which are asking that water quality standards be set by the legislators--wrote the bill for the legislators. We don't imagine they'll stop paying those lobbyists when it comes time to set those standards.

In the meeting, Hansen said little about his motives for the line of questioning, other than: "Money is everywhere in our political system." . . .

Hansen told Forum News Service that he has begun asking questions like he did in McNamara's environmental committee because the Capitol culture has turned too much to favoring special interest groups.

Hansen, who said he will not apologize to the coalition, said: "It's money that is pollution in the system."

While lobbyists traditionally write bills and ask legislators to sponsor them, Hansen said the practice is getting worse and special interests, not legislators, appear to be taking the lead on promoting bills in committees. . . .

Same bill, new day

In the March 3rd continuation of the hearing on the same bill, we see an example of a legislator who's perfectly comfortable with yanking standard-setting from an agency's technical and scientific staff and turning into over to the lobbyist-led lawmakers.

In response to testimony, Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, went on a rant against the watershed experts sitting across from him, who had testified earlier. While he claimed at the start it would be “respectful” it turned out to just be threatening:

I was offended by the arrogance of the bureaucrats that testified here today in saying that we weren’t qualified to make decisions.

You wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for the Legislature. Or your funding, your pensions, or your planning, your operations. We gave you rule-making authority, of which many of us regret. And the reason we’re here today, and we have some of these bills, is because of this arrogance. And instead of standing between the EPA and the farmer, and the businessman, and the miner, and the power companies, what you people, it seems like, are doing is worshiping the shrine of the EPA, and saying ‘There’s nothing we can do.’ It’s just offensive.

Like Rep. Persell, Kayser takes exception to Cornish's grandstanding:

Contrary to what Rep. Cornish believes, part-time elected legislators that may or may not have any idea of what phosphorus even is are most certainly not more qualified than the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to regulate pollution. Also contrary to what Cornish believes, the primary directive of the MPCA and the watershed groups is to combat pollution, not combat the Environmental Protection Agency.

But with the help of folks like Cornish, settled in the mould of his heavily thickened comfort with all this, the regulated and their paid lobbyists can set those standards.

Rarely has a Minnesota House committee hearing come to such a colorful close as it did on Tuesday. After listening to back-and-forth testimony on legislation that would require legislative approval of new water-protection standards for Minnesota lakes and rivers, Rep. John Persell accurately summed up a complicated issue with one epic, uniquely Minnesota utterance:

“Bullhockey.”

Noting that many Minnesota cities have done their part to meet new phosphorus-reduction requirements from wastewater treatment plants, Persell, DFL-Bemidji, said this is a fairness issue, that other cities don’t want to do their part.

According to testimony at the House Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee hearing, the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities played a key role in writing the legislation. Phosphorus is a pollutant that spurs algae growth and can turn sky-blue water into pea-soup green. Currently, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) takes the lead in determining water-quality standards and issuing permits for wastewater plants. . . .

H.F. 616 and 617, carried by Rep. Dan Fabian, R-Roseau, calls for legislative signoff on new water-quality standards, which are essentially a goal set for how much of a pollutant a water body can handle and remain healthy. His second bill would require additional scientific and cost reviews of MPCA protections.

Legislation has also been introduced in the House and Senate to prevent enforcement of the state’s longtime standard for sulfate. This pollutant is linked to mining and wastewater discharge and can harm natural stands of wild rice. Controversy over the state’s sulfate standard has been swirling for several years as its scientific footing undergoes review. Enforcing the standard will add to the price tag of proposed Iron Range mining projects and will be costly for current operations to adhere to.

Industry and special interests have lent these pieces of legislation broad support. Legislators from mining areas, as well as outstate districts with small sewage plants in need of updates, are also pushing this. And that’s the problem. Water protection isn’t merely an economic development issue.

But giving veto power to legislators over new safeguards would boil the debate down to that — a result that would not serve Minnesotans and future generations well. ...

Read the rest at the Star Tribune.

Photo: Representative Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul).

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As usual, Representative Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) succeeded most often in getting their goats--not surprising, since millions were spent last year's campaign independent expenditures in telling us (some more than others if you lived, as we do, in one of those target districts) exactly where those goats are tied.

Would Republican lawmakers like a taste of their own medicine? That seemed to be the message behind an amendment Rep. Carly Melin offered to a controversial education bill which says seniority cannot be the only criteria for determining if a teacher can be laid off. Melin's amendment said that committee chairmanships in the House would no longer be determined strictly by seniority but instead performance would also be considered. Melin said her amendment was relevant because she lifted the requirements directly from the education bill (HF2) that was being debated. House Speaker Kurt Daudt disagreed and ruled the amendment was not germane to the bill.

If one watches the whole of Melin's time of having the floor, you'll see the spectacle of Speaker Daudt--not a committee chair--huddled over a discussion of the House rules, only to conclude that Melin was correct in the point of inquiry that she had raised.

Here's the video:

Given Daudt's innocence (and unlike Melin, he's already in his 40s), we begin to have sympathy with those Republican House members who supported Stillwater-area representative Matt Dean and Mountain Lake's Rod Hamilton's bids for the speaker's gavel for this session.

Perhaps Representative Melin, Dean and Hamilton can create a task force to develop a system of performance review for their peers.

Indeed, we're not certain if the House Majority Caucus really did use seniority in assigning committee chairs. Rather, in the legislature that now-Executive Director Ben Golnik purchased via contributions to the Minnesota Jobs Coalition IE PAC, geography is destiny.

Screenshot: Carly Melin asking for some standards around this joint.

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Mar 04, 2015

You may say a cat uses good grammar. Well, a cat does - but you let a cat get excited once; you let a cat get to pulling fur with another cat on a shed, nights, and you'll hear grammar that will give you the lockjaw. Ignorant people think it's the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain't so; it's the sickening grammar they use.

Politico-grammar Watch - State Capitol – Jan. 19 – Jan. 26, 2015: “…and we can’t measure that criteria…” – Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer (the word that should be changed to those, because criteria is plural.). “And it is confusing to you and I.” – Rep. Denny McNamara (to you and me). “…that data is collected, that data is collected…” – Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen. (The word data is plural and should have a plural verb). “…that has these kind of increases.” – Rep. Jim Knoblach (kinds not kind).

The House has high levels of acidic partisanship and uncivil discourse. Leading contributors to these are Rep. Greg Davids because of his sarcasm and because of his brow-beating of testifiers; Rep. Rod Hamilton because of his brow-beating of testifiers; Rep. Tony Albright because he, as chairman, allowed it; Rep. Denny McNamara because of his frequent diatribes of angry indignation over perceived wrongs from across the aisle.

What a relief it was to watch Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-Eden Prairie) chair the House Education Finance Committee and Rep. Tara Mack (R-Apple Valley) in the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee today.

Unlike the chairs mentioned in Jones' second paragraph, Loon and Mack treated all those involved in the process with respect; the latter hearing covered bills aimed at restricting abortion, but the sharp division of opinion never prompted malice on Mack's part (we fall on the other side of the issue from her). Even a fairly sharp exchange at the end of the hearing between Rochester DFL Rep. Tina Liebling and Mack didn't descend into personal attacks.

You may say a cat uses good grammar. Well, a cat does - but you let a cat get excited once; you let a cat get to pulling fur with another cat on a shed, nights, and you'll hear grammar that will give you the lockjaw. Ignorant people think it's the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain't so; it's the sickening grammar they use.

Politico-grammar Watch - State Capitol – Jan. 19 – Jan. 26, 2015: “…and we can’t measure that criteria…” – Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer (the word that should be changed to those, because criteria is plural.). “And it is confusing to you and I.” – Rep. Denny McNamara (to you and me). “…that data is collected, that data is collected…” – Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen. (The word data is plural and should have a plural verb). “…that has these kind of increases.” – Rep. Jim Knoblach (kinds not kind).

The House has high levels of acidic partisanship and uncivil discourse. Leading contributors to these are Rep. Greg Davids because of his sarcasm and because of his brow-beating of testifiers; Rep. Rod Hamilton because of his brow-beating of testifiers; Rep. Tony Albright because he, as chairman, allowed it; Rep. Denny McNamara because of his frequent diatribes of angry indignation over perceived wrongs from across the aisle.

What a relief it was to watch Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-Eden Prairie) chair the House Education Finance Committee and Rep. Tara Mack (R-Apple Valley) in the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee today.

Unlike the chairs mentioned in Jones' second paragraph, Loon and Mack treated all those involved in the process with respect; the latter hearing covered bills aimed at restricting abortion, but the sharp division of opinion never prompted malice on Mack's part (we fall on the other side of the issue from her). Even a fairly sharp exchange at the end of the hearing between Rochester DFL Rep. Tina Liebling and Mack didn't descend into personal attacks.

Mar 03, 2015

During Tuesday's Minnesota House Environmental and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee hearing of HF616 and HF617, which would require the Minnesota legislature to set water quality standards and add a layer of independent peer review, Rep. Tony Cornish (R-Vernon Center) did a little grandstanding about bureaucrats and science.

It's not particularly worth noting, since as Rep. Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) said, the substance of the performance was merely the same old tired cliches.

Was it his marvelous backwoods accent? The water treatment map he deftly waved in the air? Bluestem believes it's the unique blend on content and diction that only Persell brings to the table. A biologist by training, Persell worked for years as the water quality specialist and environmental policy analyst for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.

See if you don't agree that when this guy talks about water quality standards, we ought to listen:

Thank you Mr. Chair. I just wanted to say it: Representative Cornish, you kinda stole my thunder a little bit. You're offended, and I'm offended too, but not for the same reason.

The MPCA doesn't bother me, although we don't get along on everything.

But I'm offended. You look at this map and most of the sewer treatment plants in Minnesota did the right thing. We did the right thing in Bemidji 30 years ago. Thirty years ago! And instituted phosphorus reductions so we could save Lake Bemidji, Big Wolf Lake, Andrusia, Cass, Winnibigoshish, on down the Mississippi River, through all of them, so we could send you all down here cleaner water.

Cleaner water! And now a few sewer treatment plants, a few cities want to say, oh no, not me, we don't want to do this.

Well bull hockey. That ain't right! That ain't fair! That ain't the we do things in Minnesota!

I just want to say I support what you're trying to do MPCA, and let's do the right thing here and support standards the way they're supposed to be developed.

The House version of the bill to modify the state nuisance law will be heard in the Ag Policy Committee on Wednesday, March 4 at 10:15 a.m. Committee chair Paul Anderson (R-Starbuck) is the author of the proposed legislation

We've received tips from rural sources about another Protein Sources project in Norman County, and have been researching public documents about this project.

So far, our research confirms that the pork powerhouse--in which Bron Scherer, the state treasurer of the Republican Party of Minnesota is a partner--is expanding its farrowing operations into new areas because of the problems created by animal diseases in Southern Minnesota.

According to a pdf of minutes for "April 29, 2024 Preliminary Meeting with Protein Source LLP, Keith Chisholm and Gary, MN Farmers, County & Local reps to explore the possibility of putting two swine farms in the Gary, MN area" posted at the Gary, MN website:

b. Protein Sources LLP is currently expanding its business through North Dakota, South Dakota and in to northern Minnesota.i. Norman County was chosen because it is not a saturated area for the hog business. Because of this, it is deemed to be less apt to host any diseases that could affect the sows.1. The Sows are kept in a contained building that is kept as a bio security type clean environment to ensure their good health. Employees must shower in/shower out to enter any of their facilities.ii. Gary, MN specifically was chosen because of a mutual acquaintance of both Protein Sources and Keith Chisholm. Keith owns the property available that will work for their requirements.

Bluestem thanks God for the facts that these disease have not jumped a species border, but wishes that the pork industry might be more efficacious than simply seeking a geographic cure.

We are not sure why ordinary Minnesota citizens are to surrender their ability to seek legal redress in the court system (as the clarification of the law by legalization suggests) given this set of circumstances.

Moreover, given that Protein Sources is already expanding in North and South Dakota because of the disease factor, we certain hope we hear little about oppressive government regulations, when the true oppression here appears simply to be the facts of porcine disease and concentration of animal units.

The expansion into Northwest Central Minnesota by a major player in the state's pork industry has prompted conflict in Todd County--and the introduction of bills to limit citizens' ability to file nuisance lawsuits against ag operations.

HF0582, introduced by Minnesota House Ag Policy Chair Paul Anderson (R-Starbuck), will be heard in his committee on Wednesday; the committee hearing starts at 10:15 a.m., but has posted notice that it will reconvene at 6:00 p.m. if more time is needed to hearing testimony and committee members' questions about the bill and the two other measures scheduled for consideration.

Bluestem Prairie asked The Uptake to excerpt the testimony for and against the bill. It's likely that many of the same individuals will testify before the House committee on Wednesday:

Senator Sparks' brief presentation of the bill opened the hearing, led by committee vice-chair Matt Schmit (DFL-Red Wing). Sparks turned the discussion of the bill over to pork industry representatives or their legal counsel.

Jack Perry, a lawyer and lobbyist with the Briggs and Morgan law firm, opened the discussion a consideration of four points about the bill, including the fact that nuisance lawsuits are being filed against hog farmers by plaintiff groups joined by national organizations like the Human Society of the United States; according to court records, Perry has been involved representing the defendants in these lawsuits, as he alludes in his testimony. Perry said that the intent of the bill was to clarify the laws, not to change them.

Next, Protein Sources partner Paul FitzSimmons, discussed his extended family's hog farms, which employ 280 people. He said that the firm is committed to respecting communities and the environment, while delivering a product at a price that everyone can afford. FitzSimmons notes that the livestock industry needs certainty.

Sources at the state capitol tell us that lobbyists with Jerich Associates are talking up the legislation to lawmakers. According to association data on file with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, Michael, Ronald and Valerie Jerich are the registered lobbyists for Minnesotans for Environmental Equality. The filing lists "Paul Fitz Simmons, Partner, 503 Silver St E PO Box 308, Mapleton, MN 56065" as the contact information.

The organization, which does not have a website, is not registered with the Minnesota Secretary of State's office nor with the Attorney General's charity division; the address is that of Protein Sources.

FitzSimmons sees the changes--which he says really aren't a fix for the current law--but measures that will protect producers who have gone through the permitting process and are thus presumed to be in compliance with state standards. (FitzSimmons is a party to a lawsuit related to a hog farm in Todd County; we'll embed the nuisance complaint below).

Next, David Preisler, Executive Director of the Minnesota Pork Board, took "a moment to talk about what's really at risk." Minnesota agriculture generates $21 billion in income, 40 percent of which is from livestock. Nuisance risks make the state less attractive to livestock producers.

Carlson's position is the bill represents not a clarification of the law, but a substantial departure from the law. He explains what a nuisance is and that current law is designed so that property owners can abate the nuisance so they can enjoy their property. He notes that the bill would change two aspects of the law: that related to public nuisances, wherein government agencies get involved and private nuisances.

MAJ members are mostly concerned with private nuisances, and Carlson pointed out that an activity need not be illegal to be a private nuisance that can interfere with the enjoyment of property or injury one's health. As Minnesota doesn't have an odor standard, he said, being in compliance is great, but it's not an odor standard.

Carlson's final observation was that at four points, the language of the bill affects cases that are currently in litigation-- indeed, "pending litigation" is mentioned in the bill.

"That is clearly a departure from where this legislature has been, to go in and apply the law to a case that is currently being litigated. We have serious concerns with that," Carlson said, "not just in this bill but as a precedential issue as well."

The final person to testify was Aimee Goodwin, a rural Todd County property owner who has had to move to Douglas County because of the smell of the sow barn that FitzSimmons developed along with Webster, Iowa based Gourley Farms. Her testimony around the 19 minute marker on the video above. It's also close to the injuries enumerated in the lawsuits embedded below.

What led to this situation, where a party involved in lawsuits seeks to have the laws "clarified"or "changed"?

Sow facilities have sought to locate in Todd County because there is a good separation between hog barns, Stieber said. The facilities are more isolated for the production of piglets. . . .

The notion of locating hog farrowing and production barns in the region is frequently raised by reports about the facility. In 2012, Fox 9 News reporter Trish Van Pilsum reported in Investigators: Hog haven on the horizon?:

A longtime family hog operation from Webster City, Iowa, hopes to build that barn. It would be run by the Gourley brothers, who have a clean environmental record in Iowa and have grown from a single family farm to a multi-million dollar operation that produces 60,000 pigs a year.

They want to move sows and their newborns to the rural Minnesota bean field because the location is isolated. Currently, their sow barn in Iowa has so many hog neighbors in close proximity that their animals kept getting sick. The pigs get fevers and sometimes, litters are lost when the baby pigs fall ill; however, it is important to note that there is no risk to humans from the pig virus.

During the planning stages of the sow production facility, the brothers started working with Protein Sources LLP, a Mapleton, Minn.,-based firm that provides management and accounting services for farrowing and finishing hog operations in the Upper Midwest, mainly in Minnesota and Iowa. Protein Sources was started in 1999 by Bron Scherer, formerly of Amboy, Minn., and the FitzSimmons brothers: Pat, John, Paul, Richard and Bill of Good Thunder, Minn. Gene Gourley and Mark FitzSimmons, the youngest of the Good Thunder brothers, were familiar with each other from working together at Swine Graphics Enterprises LP in Webster City, Iowa. . . .

They also took another step in reducing risk of disease by where they built it.

The Webster City, Iowa, area has a large hog population, and the Gourleys have had a hard time keeping porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus under control at their Iowa farms. So when they were looking to build this new facility, they wanted to find a location that would have lower swine disease pressure.

According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the Gourleys’ home county of Hamilton had 520,000 total hogs at the end of 2008. By contrast, Todd County, Minn., had 24,000 hogs and pigs in 2012 according to the Minnesota Agricultural Statistics report.

“We looked at other states,” Gene Gourley says, “but then we had to look at who would be the manager of the site, because we weren’t going to be traveling to do that” for disease and distance reasons. “We looked at property that provided isolation from other pigs, and the fewest neighbors as possible.” FitzSimmonses had property in Todd County, and they also have a boar stud in that area. The existing relationship between Gene Gourley and Mark FitzSimmons and the property in the area made for a beneficial working relationship for both parties. “Another reason we went with the FitzSimmonses,” Gene Gourley says, “is that we feel they have the same values that our family has.”

The Gourley Premium Pork (GPP) now owns the land, the structure and the hogs, and Protein Sources manages the facility. So far, knock on wood (if you can find some) they have managed to keep disease out of the Todd County facility.

Gene Gourley says the barn has been set up to be filtered for disease concerns, but as of yet the barn has not been equipped to do so. He says filter installation would cost about $1.5 million, “and we could break with PRRS every 10 years and the cost of the install and the added energy costs would have eaten that up.”

A good rodent control program is essential with a biofilter. Mice and rats burrow through the warm media during the cold winter months causing channeling and poor treatment. Rabbits, woodchucks, and badgers have been suspected of burrowing through and nesting in biofilters. Fortunately, most livestock and poultry operations currently have a good rodent control program and will require limited if any modifications. Costs of professional rodent control is approximately $400 per year for a typical animal production operation.

That's in 2004 dollars, and given the size of the farrowing operation, Bluestem suspects that the cost of rodent control at the facility might cost more than $400.

Neighbors Grow Concerned--Then Sue

While FitzSimmons' comment at the end of the video, "It's going to work well for the industry," certainly speaks accurately to the structural and design integrity of the Well Concrete structure, his hopes for the building being perceived in an entirely positive light by its neighbors have not come to pass.

I am writing to address the issue of the swine barn that is going in down the road from my home.

When I first heard about it, I was mostly heartbroken at what this meant for our wonderful country neighborhood. It’s a beautiful part of Todd County, where the people are friendly and the wildlife is plenty. One of my favorite things to do is sit out on my front porch in the spring and listen to the chorus of the frogs that reside in Silver Creek, just over the hill from my home. Heartache turned to a sick stomach at the thought of what the smell of 2,000 plus pigs would do to beautiful nights.

If I could stop it, I would, and I’d be a liar if I told you I haven’t tried. My interest is personal, of course. But this is not an issue that should just be the problem of those who live nearby. This is an issue for the entire surrounding area; anyone who loves nature; anyone who cares about our environment. This facility is going to be built at the top of the valley where we live and though there is no water running on the actual property, the Long Prairie River runs adjacent to it, just a short three miles away. Silver Creek is less than a mile away.

I have done a lot of research on these massive operations. I could fill this entire newspaper with the horror stories I have come across in my studies. But what I want to focus on today is what this may do or has the potential to do to our environment.

There is the song and dance of “ there are very strict state laws and restrictions for these operations to make sure that they are safe for everyone.” And that’s true; there are. But when it comes right down to it, no one can guarantee any of that. The real bottom line is, these massive hog barn operations are filthy and have even been referred to as one of the worst environmental pollutants that there is.

So here is the short version of this situation: Any polluted water will run right down our valley. It will easily travel across our neighbor’s property onto ours and only have a short trip from here into the creek. From there, with nothing to stop it, it will be dumped into the Long Prairie River and go anywhere it sees fit to travel along its way. That’s not all. Because one pig makes approximately three gallons of manure a day, the owners need to have contracted with the surrounding landowners an agreement to be able to spread the manure. Over time and being so close to the water, it is possible for the ground to become oversaturated and the water can be polluted that way. . . .

Sources at the capitol have told Bluestem that lawmakers are being told that Goodwin is the only one to ever have objected about the facility, but the public record presents a different picture.

Further information. Amy[sic] Goodwin asked that the Board acknowledge a petition that had been submitted to this meeting addressed to the Todd County Board of Commissioners . Jim read the petition signed by 192 persons –

“We the tax payers and land owners of Leslie Township and Todd County and others who are affected by this operation are signing our names to this petition and sharing it with you so that there is no doubt where we stand on the issue of the proposed Gourley Brothers swine facility in Leslie Township. Our concerns are many–environmental, water contamination, air quality, pollution, health and disease and property value just to name a few. We ask, if you have any influence or power to come to the aid of the people you represent in helping us to stop this, that you will.

The zoning board recommended the permit on a 3-2 vote and included a biofilter as a condition for it. The county board would approve the permit and remove the requirement for a biofilter.

The decision was not the end of the local objections; instead, the conflict escalated. On November 26, 2012, Goodwin , her spouse, other area residents and "Citizens Concerned for Todd County Health and Welfare" filed 77-CV-12-1241 a complaint against the county and those commissioners who voted for the CUP. The cased was closed administratively on December 2, 2012.

County Attorney Chuck Rasmussen said on Dec. 18 that the opponents of the Gourley Bros. hog farm under construction in Leslie Township have filed suit against the county again, this time in the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Rasmussen said in a telephone interview that the law firm of Iverson Reuvers has been retained by the county’s insurance carrier, Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust (MCIT), to defend the county in the civil lawsuit.

He said that the plaintiffs, Russell Anderson et al, had asked the Court of Appeals for a Writ of Certiorari – a request to accept the suit.

n the civil lawsuit against the county, filed on behalf of Russell Anderson, Corey and Aimee Goodwin, Joe and Iona Wolbeck and Citizens Concerned for Todd County Health and Welfare, by attorney Douglas C. Grawe of Grawe Law, PLLC, Eagan, Minnesota, the plaintiffs allege that commissioners violated the Minnesota Open Meeting Law in two ways: (1) by discussing the hog farm at the Oct. 2 public board meeting, and (2) by discussing the hog farm at the Oct. 30 and 31 strategic planning meetings, which the plaintiffs allege did not meet the requirements of the Minnesota open meeting law.

The civil lawsuit also alleges that county Soil and Water Conservation and Development Division (SWCDD) staff (1) did not correctly carry out computer modeling of the potential hydrogen sulfide levels that could be present in the air of Leslie Township when the hog farrowing facility begins operation, and (2) did not require the facility to place its proposed water well 200 feet from the facility.

The lawsuit asks that the court void the CUP and not allow the land in question to be used for a hog farrowing facility.

The lawsuit was first filed in the Seventh Judicial District Court in Long Prairie on Nov. 28. The court file number is 77CV- 121241. It was later withdrawn. The suit was refiled with the Court of Appeals last week.

Neighbors trying to stop a large hog feedlot from being built in central Minnesota are now challenging the state's decision to let the operation draw millions of gallons of groundwater.

The state Department of Natural Resources hasn't done enough to ensure the farm's groundwater demands won't damage nearby Lake Osakis and other area water supplies, said Amanda Prutzman, an attorney for the neighbors.

The Humane Society of the United States has joined neighbors in asking an appeals court to intervene. The animal welfare group says the state Department of Natural Resources erred in issuing the Gourley Brothers farm in Todd County a permit to draw up to 8 million gallons of groundwater per year to water livestock.

Groundwater use has drawn more scrutiny in certain areas of the state in recent years as hydrologists have shown a link between groundwater pumping and water levels in lakes and wetlands. The Todd County case, filed last week, does not cite evidence that groundwater withdrawals have damaged local water supplies.

The DNR, however, didn't meet its legal obligations when it issued the permit, said Humane Society attorney Peter Brandt. "It did not consider the impacts of allowing this facility to go in there and withdraw more than 10,000 gallons of water per day," he said. . . .

It's at this point that the bugaboo of Minnesota's livestock producers industry got involved with the dispute.

At the Dec. 17 county board meeting, about 30 citizens crowded into the commissioners’ room – some to criticize Board Chair Commissioner Randy Neumann, and some to praise him.

The citizens were there either as members of the Livestock Advisory Council (LAC) or as members of the Todd County Concerned Citizens (TCCC)– two groups with different purposes and agendas. . . .

TCCC member Nancy Judd spoke on behalf of what she described as “many concerned citizens” to thank Neumann for listening to the citizens of Todd County, showing leadership, and proving “that an Administrator is not necessary to the running of the county.”

Judd presented Neumann with a plaque in recognition of what the TCCC sees as his leadership and recognition of citizens’ concerns during his term as chair of the county board.

The court will decide the fate of the nuisance complaint, but Bluestem hopes this background on the history of the conflict that's led one side to seek legislative relief for active case is helpful for those who might wonder what's up.

But we're left with a couple of reflections. First, that the cost of maintaining a rat-free biofilter might have been less expensive for FitzSimmons than litigation and lobbying.

Second, Joel Carlson's warning about changing a law --and applying that law to active litigation--suggests that this reaction to the lawsuit isn't well thought out.

Finally, changing law because one doesn't like the perceived motives of one of the parties in a lawsuit strikes us as an alarming idea. Should labor unions be given special protection against lawsuits brought by the National Right to Work Committee? Should "date" sites be protected against those organizations that object to sex trafficking? What of the citizens' right to redress in the courts from private nuisances?

Photo: Healthy piglets and sows in the Todd County farrowing barn, via National Hog Farmers.

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